Effect of surface modification of zinc oxide on the electrochemical performances of [Ni4Al(OH)10]OH electrode

Surface modification of zinc oxide on the Ni₄Al(OH)₁₀]OH has been performed by a chemical surface precipitation method. Inductively coupled plasma measurements show that the amount of ZnO of prepared samples increases with the increase of initial concentration of Zn²⁺ in the mother solution. Powder X-ray diffraction measurements and scanning electron microscope images show that the modification of ZnO has little effects on the lattice parameters and the particle sizes of the Ni₄Al(OH)₁₀]OH, but does change the morphology. The charge–discharge cycles results show that the deterioration rate of discharge capacity for the electrode with ZnO is only 4.0 % after 255 cycles, which is lower than that of electrode without ZnO (8.5 %); meanwhile, the maximal numbers of exchanged electrons per nickel atom for the electrodes with ZnO are basically over 1.83, which are higher than that of the electrode without ZnO (1.73), indicating that the modification of ZnO can improve the utilization of active material. In addition, the cyclic voltammogram tests results show that the modification of ZnO not only improves electrochemical cyclic reversibility but also elevates the oxygen evolution potential. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements show that the modification of ZnO can lower the double layer capacitance and the charge transfer resistance.